The Philadelphia Flyers have selected Union defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere in the third round of the NHL draft Saturday morning.

"I was with my family, and we went pretty nuts," Gostisbehere said in a telephone interview from his home in Margate, Fla. "We didn't get a call saying that I was going to go early. We were watching TV, and my name just popped up. We went nuts."

Gostisbehere had an outstanding freshman season, collecting five goals and 17 assists in 41 games. He was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Rookie team, and was selected to the ECACH All-Tournament team.

"I had heard some rumors that I might go in the third round, or fourth," Gostisbehere said. "I just took it in stride. I'm just happy I went."

"If anybody has ever gone through it, it's quite an exciting time," Union coach Rick Bennett said. "Just getting off the phone with him, he sounds like he's on Cloud 9 with his family."

Getting selected by the Flyers caps a big week for Gostisbehere. On Monday, he was invited to the U.S. National Development Camp to try out for the U.S. team that will play in the World Junior Championships Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Ufa, Russia.

"It's probably one of the best weeks of my hockey career, I'm not going to lie," Gostisbehere said.

Gostisbehere was ranked 148th among North American skaters in the final NHL Central Scouting Bureau ratings. Bennett wasn't surprised he was a third-round pick.

"Because of what he did throughout the second half of the season, and even in the playoffs," Bennett said. "In the playoffs, he was one of our better defensemen. That speaks volumes. Everything he got today was because of hard work."

Also, Union recruit and Nobles defenseman Tim Boyle was picked in the fourth round by Ottawa. Boyle is the brother of New York Rangers center Brian Boyle.